This weekend, the NFL returns to the 50,000-seat Tokyo Dome when the Dallas Cowboys play the Atlanta Falcons. Game time is 9 tonight CDT (Sunday afternoon in Tokyo).

This is the 10th time the league has played in Tokyo, the most of any overseas city. The league skipped Tokyo last year but wants to keep this market alive.

"We have a very different situation from baseball and basketball in that our teams only have eight home games in the regular season," Tagliabue said Friday. "It is very difficult to take one of those games away from the home fans."

Tagliabue noted the significant interest in football in Japan the past decade. The NFL has opened an office in Tokyo, held numerous clinics and supported the development of flag football in the country.

Even so, football remans a relatively minor sport, but with something of an exotic, Americana cachet for the Japanese.

According to the NFL, about 30,000 Japanese play football at the high school through corporate level. By comparison, baseball counts about 160,000 participants in high schools alone.

And compared to other American Bowl sites, the Tokyo Dome hasn't pulled big crowds.

Attendance peaked at more than 51,000 in 1991 and 1992 but dropped to just more than 40,000 in 1996 and 42,000 in 1998. Mexico City drew 106,000 that year, and Sydney drew 73,000 last year.

Still, NFL fans are a devoted lot, and the league certainly has good connections, as Tagliabue demonstrated Friday by dropping in on Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, a former rugby player.

And to add local flavor to the game, three Japanese players will suit up - receiver Masato Itai and linebacker Masafumi Kawaguchi for the Cowboys and tight end Nachi Abe for the Falcons.

Though this will be the first international appearance for the Falcons, the Cowboys have been in Japan - and just about everywhere else - before.

They were in Tokyo in 1992 and lost to Houston 34-23. The Cowboys have also played in London, Mexico City (twice), Toronto and Monterrey, Mexico.